


15x13 coda: just a couple of dumbasses being idiots

by contemplativepancakes



Series: Season 15 codas [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 15x13 coda, Coda, Episode: s15e13 Destiny's Child, Interrupted Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23290522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/contemplativepancakes/pseuds/contemplativepancakes
Summary: And then, inexplicably, other-Dean softens, the corners of his mouth turning up. “I saw you with Cas. You guys are really happy, aren’t you?”“I don’t know about that,” Dean laughs, but then he thinks more what other-Dean said, the tone of his voice, andoh. “It’s not like that,” Dean rushes to say, but other-Dean is already off and running.“With all the bureaucracy at Hunter Corp, I never really get to spend a lot of time with anyone besides Sam, so it’s nice to see the partnership that you and your Cas have. I’ve… thought about him like that sometimes, but things never seem to line up, or they get interrupted, you know?”Fuck, does Dean know.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Season 15 codas [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539418
Comments: 11
Kudos: 210





	15x13 coda: just a couple of dumbasses being idiots

Dean’s taken back at first, when he meets these alternate versions of him and Sam. He takes them in— everything from Sam’s man bun to their bare ankles to their truly atrocious car (Dean whispers an apology to Baby for even daring to lay eyes on something that ridiculous, never mind that there’s a version of himself actually riding around in it)— and he doesn’t know what to think. The other-them tell Sam and Dean that they get _paid_ for hunting, and for a second, Dean wants what they have; all the way until other-Dean says they just hop on a plane to go to their hunts. Dean blanches. Hard pass.

By all other accounts, though, Sam and Dean should be the ones jealous of this other pair of them, so it’s bizarre when Dean is snagged by the elbow and told it’s the other way around. 

It’s after they’ve gotten back from following Ruby’s lead, and Dean’s still coming down from the adrenaline rush that the hellhounds sent him on. He makes a face to himself, because Ruby knows exactly how much Dean hates hellhounds, and that’s when other-Dean stops him. To have a _chat_. Because that’s apparently something he does.

Fuck, Dean needs a drink, and he needs it even more when he turns around to face the freaky other version of himself and sees a disgustingly earnest look on his face.

“So,” other-him says, leaning against the door frame of the library.

“So,” Dean repeats, gesturing for him to get on with the point.

“You have a nice thing going here.”

Dean grunts. “I guess.”

And then, inexplicably, other-Dean softens, the corners of his mouth turning up. “I saw you with Cas. You guys are really happy, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know about that,” Dean laughs, but then he thinks more what other-Dean said, the tone of his voice, and _oh_. “It’s not like that,” Dean rushes to say, but other-Dean is already off and running.

“With all the bureaucracy at Hunter Corp, I never really get to spend a lot of time with anyone besides Sam, so it’s nice to see the partnership that you and your Cas have. I’ve… thought about him like that sometimes, but things never seem to line up, or they get interrupted, you know?”

Fuck, does Dean know.

“But, anyway, I think I might have missed my chance with my Cas. So. I’m glad that at least you get to have that. I always knew we stared at each other too much for there to not be something there.” Other-Dean shakes his head. “Tell me one last thing. Are his thighs as nice wrapped around you as they look like they would be?”

Dean doesn’t have anything to say about that (even though other-Dean has a very valid point), and other-Dean takes his stunned silence as confirmation. “That good, huh?” he laughs with a wink, and then he brushes by Dean, leaving him standing there and gaping like a fish out of water until he scrambles after him to see him out of the bunker. Can’t have other-Dean getting any ideas about the wrong Cas.

Later, after the other version of him and Sam are gone, he goes to find Cas. _I think I might have missed my chance_ , other-Dean had said, and Dean is determined that he doesn’t meet the same fate. As he walks down the hall, he peeks into Jack’s room, but it’s empty. He continues walking until he comes to Cas’s door. It’s shut, and there’s no answer when Dean raps his knuckles on it. He turns, dejected, and decides he’ll just have to deal with this whole thing tomorrow. As long as he doesn’t convince himself that it’s a bad idea by then, which has happened so many times that Dean’s lost count.

He’s so distracted by his thoughts that he almost jumps out of his skin when he flips on the light in his room to see Cas sitting on his bed. “Dude! Why are you just sitting here in the dark? I thought we were past all the weird stuff.”

Cas doesn’t even crack a grin at Dean’s exclamation, and the smile on Dean’s own face falters. “Is… something wrong?”

“I just need to tell you something,” Cas hedges, an uncertain look on his face.

“Well, don’t look like you’re getting led to the gallows, man. I don’t bite.”

Cas still hesitates, so Dean plops down on the bed beside him. This might take a while. “Ready whenever you are,” Dean says, throwing an arm over his eyes as he fights the urge to press into Cas’s side, maybe wrap an arm around one of his thighs… he curses other-Dean for ever putting that idea into his head.

“You remember when Jack died?” Cas asks tentatively.

“Do I remember?” Dean laughs, sitting up to look at Cas,“Yeah, I don’t think I forgot our kid dying, Cas.”

“I made a deal,” Cas blurts, and the amusement slides right off of Dean’s face.

“What?”

“I made a deal. With the Empty. It was the only way to get Jack back.”

Cas looks incredibly guilty, which is at least one point in his favor, but Dean is reeling and trying not to jump straight to anger.

“What was the deal for?” he asks woodenly.

“That the empty would… get me. When I was happy, it’d take me back.”

“Shit, Cas. That’s messed up. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Cas gives him a look, and yeah, that’s fair. Dean’s not sure if he could have handled this revelation any sooner, not sure if he’s even handling it right now. “You sure know how to pick ‘em, huh?” Dean asks, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Just, I don’t want to keep secrets anymore, Dean. I’m sick of them. Secrets have never caused anything good for us.”

And here Cas is, making Dean keep the biggest secret of all.

Now, Dean might not think an awful lot of himself, and it could be blasphemous to think that he’s the thing that could make Cas happy, but he doesn’t believe in tempting fate. Carefully, deliberately, he doesn’t say any of the things that he came here to say. Instead, he just stares at Cas’s stupid sad puppy dog face that Dean’s sure he learned from Sam.

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

**Author's Note:**

> so last week I promised jealous!Dean, and at the time, I was definitely envisioning our Dean being the jealous one. But this alternate Dean just ached for everything that our Sam and Dean have, so this was born instead. Let me know what you thought and I'd love it if you visited me on [tumblr!](https://contemplativepancakes.tumblr.com/)


End file.
